NEWS ROUNDUP:

Campaign Finance

• DISCLOSE Act falls again in second Senate attempt: 24 hours was not enough time for the Senate to get enough support for the DISCLOSE Act, which failed again a day after it didn’t get the supermajority needed to block a GOP filibuster. (Politico)
• Poll: Nearly two-thirds of Americans disagree with Citizens United ruling: A poll conducted by the Freedom Forum found that 63% of Americans support a ban of election spending by corporations. (Politico)
• In 2006, Dems were the ones against outside spending transparency: The partisan nature of campaign finance reform was present in the DISCLOSE vote, but it was also apparent in 2006—only then, it was the Democrats fighting against reform. The 527 Reform Act of 2006 was introduced by a Republican congressman and was meant to monitor spending by “527” groups, who generally supported Democrats more than they did Republicans. (Republic Report)

Government

• NSA’s open-source, Google-like project runs afoul of Senate Armed Services Committee: The National Security Agency, looking for a new way to store data, created a database similar to Google’s BigTable, boosted its security provisions, and released its code with the aim of aiding other government agencies. However, the Senate Armed Services Committee claims this runs afoul of a policy preventing in-house creation of software that could have been accessed commercially. (Wired)
• FCC previews political ad database: The online database meant to give the public information about political ads found on network television (which has been fought against by the National Association of Broadcasters) was unveiled in a public demonstration yesterday. (Government Technology)
• Site containing government-performance data flounders without funding: Performance.gov, a website meant to provide to the public a unified database of government performance reports, lacks the quality of information promised and suggested in its founding legislation. This has been blamed on insufficient funding and capital. (National Journal)
• OMB: Transparency measures should work on improvements, not replacements: In a hearing addressing transparency in federal spending, Office of Management and Budget comptroller Danny Werfel spoke out against legislation such as IPERA, which he claimed is forcing the government in a different—but not improved—direction. (Federal Computer Week)

RELEVANT BILLS INTRODUCED:

• None.

REST OF THE WEEK

• Improving Cyber Security Information Sharing: Thurs. 7/19. 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. Bipartisan Policy Center. 1225 I Street NW, Suite 1000, Washington, D.C.
• Markup of H.R. 406, H.R. 6122, H. Con. Res. 132, H.R. 1402, and H.R. 1974: House Administration. Thurs. 7/19. 10:00 a.m. 1310 Longworth House Office Building. Full Committee Markup.
• Digital Development: Connecting People and Technology in Foreign Assistance: Thurs. 7/19. 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. International Foundation for Electoral Systems. 1850 K Street NW, 5th Floor, Washington, D.C.
• U.S. Cybersecurity Threats and Responses Conference: Thurs. 7/19. 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. 2261 Rayburn House Office Building. 45 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C.
• Open Internet Advisory Committee Meeting: Fri. 7/20. 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Federal Communications Commission, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th Street SW, Washington D.C.
• Nominations of Walter M. Shaub Jr. to be Director, Office of Government Ethics: Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs. Fri. 7/20. 10:30 a.m. 342 Dirksen Senate Office Building. Full committee hearing.

JOB OPPORTUNITIES:

• Executive Director, Oregon: Common Cause
• Director, Arab Regional Office and MENA: Open Society Foundations

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